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Did Idowu hop it, skip town or jump ship?

On the eve of the athletics programme, Team GB appear to have mislaid Phillips Idowu and do not know if he will compete

Rick Broadbent

August 2 2012, 1:01am, The Times

Team GB say Idowu, their hope for a medal in the triple jump, has done a disappearing actAdidas/Getty Images

It does not sound an easy task, but Team GB have mislaid their much-pierced, dyed-haired, 6ft 5in triple jumper.

On the eve of the athletics programme, the whereabouts of Phillips Idowu are unknown after he failed to attend the pre-Olympic training camp and severed ties with his coach. Officials admitted that they had no idea if or when the former world champion, now dubbed “the invisible man”, would turn up.

It also emerged that Aston Moore, his coach, had not spoken to his charge for two weeks and that Idowu was refusing to answer calls and texts.

An exasperated Charles van Commenee, the UK Athletics (UKA) head coach, said it was “bizarre” that Idowu had “turned his back on us” so close to the biggest…